


Distance

by obisgirl



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen, non-incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-25
Updated: 2011-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-11 13:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/478909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obisgirl/pseuds/obisgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Days after coming out at the carnival, Noah distances himself from Claire but still keeps an eye on her activities from afar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distance

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Vol. 6  
> Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, just borrowing. All NBC’s and Tim Kring’s. Please don’t sue!

Maybe it was easier being a Company Man, Noah realizes one day, sitting alone in his apartment. It had been three weeks since Claire jumped from the Ferris wheel. Reports were coming out left and right about the indestructible girl and as well as speculation that there are more out there like her. 

For years, Noah Bennet worked with the Company to prevent this kind of situation from happening, even doing whatever he needed to protect Claire from the backlash; the irony of that is that she is the one responsible for making it happen.  

He talked briefly with Angela the day after Claire came out, and she agreed that what she did was selfish and impulsive, but Angela also added, very brave and gutsy.  She also said, “As a parent, we try our best to protect our children but truths that could hurt them but sometimes, protecting them could end up doing more harm than good.”

Despite promising to be always be there for his "Claire-bear," Noah couldn't bring himself to forgive her for what she did.  Although he’d considered more than once that maybe specials being outed wasn't the end of the world; he also considered how things could go horribly wrong.  

Sylar is among those concerns. For the time being, Sylar’s enjoying being a hero although in Noah's opinion, it’s the attention that he craves. But Sylar being Sylar, Noah knows boredom will eventually take over and he’d become evil again. For the time being, normals are fascinated with Claire but all it takes is moment, one mistake and normals turn on all of them. That's what Noah fears. 

Claire probably knows that but doesn't want to acknowledge it and that worries him.   Instead of studying for midterm exams, she’s scheduling interviews and appearances.  Even though he distances himself from her, Noah still collects articles of her latest appearances; oddly, chronicling her journey into celebrity.

The new 'It' girl.

He never attends her appearances of course, Peter or Angela never do as far as he knows. Sometimes, he wonders what Nathan would do if he were still alive.  He was always hellbent on outing specials before.  Noah imagines that Nathan would probably accompany her on those interviews, giving her instructions on how to respond to certain questions. Her own personal couch and agent.

Unlike other starlets, she doesn’t have any stalkers, only curious fans. 

And yes, even a Facebook page. Turns out the kid running the site is actually a familiar face.  Noah was on the phone with Sandra that night.  Sandra installed parental controls and blocked social networking sites using their computer anti virus.

Somehow, the news of Lyle's Facebook page gets back to Claire and she calls him the next day.  Noah doesn’t answer, instead letting his answering machine pick up her messages. She thanks him for taking care of Lyle, and complains even as a junior in college, he still annoys her. The next message arrives ten minutes later and consists of her asking if he is available for lunch, then another saying that she misses him.

The messages continue into the evening until she stops calling which is only a temporary reprieve until the next day when they resume.  After the fifth, Noah disconnects his phone and decides to watch some TV instead.

Bad idea.

Every other channel is devoted to special programming starring his Claire-bear. In most of them, she talks about her ability but whenever asked about what her family, Noah notices that she gets very guarded and says that her ability is a sensitive subject with them.

At least she isn't telling the media anything about her background, he thinks. 

But even secrecy is temporary. The media have ways of uncovering these things...

Noah flinches, turning his attention to the front door.  He'd ignore the door but he doesn't want to upset the neighbors, so he answers it. Sure enough, there’s Claire, nervously looking up at him.   Noah stares back at her, challenging her to say something.

"How are you?" she asks finally.

"I'm fine," he responds, "Would you like to come in?"

Claire's face immediately lights up and it makes Noah happy to see her smile, and then he gets that gut-wrenching feeling about why she’s there.  He knows that they need to talk but Noah was hoping it would have been at least a couple more weeks until the press died down.  He sighs, watching Claire become familiar with his apartment again before taking a seat on the couch.

Noah sits down opposite her.  "I'm actually surprised to see you,"

"I had a free day and I thought that I'd come and see you,"

That's nice, Noah thought.

Claire shifted uncomfortably, looking straight at him. “I think we should talk,”

“I think we should too,” he agrees, waiting for her to speak.  

Noah knows that she must have thought about what to say to him but instead, there’s this uncomfortable, deafening silence.  The truth is, after all this time watching her from a distance, he has no idea what to say to her either.

The End 


End file.
